Kailua perks up with parties
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — Parties and beautification go hand-in-hand in Kailua, where residents spend one day each year mingling with one other, sampling local items while helping to raise money to make their community more attractive.
• What: I Love Kailua town party • When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 14 • Where: In the parking lot on Hekili Street behind First Hawaiian Bank. • Fee: $3. Children under 12 admitted free.
The Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle has organized the I Love Kailua town party for 10 years, and the results from a decade of proceeds can be seen at landscaping projects including: the area around the fountain at Pohakupu Park; Alala Point at the entrance to Lanikai; and the median at the entrance to Kailua town just before Hamakua Drive.
At a glance
Every year the party offers some of the best features of Windward O'ahu, including food from its restaurants, entertainment by local stars and handmade crafts from its residents. This year's party will be April 14.
Money raised by this year's event will pay for the maintenance of a third corridor project on Kailua Road to be built in 2003, said Lyn Turner, Lani-Kailua president. The project, to extend the landscaping in the median on Kailua Road, will be a collaborative effort by government and the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle.
"It will be done on state land with city money and LKOC will do the maintenance," Turner said.
The median projects, which have cost about $65,000 each, had gotten too expensive for the Outdoor Circle to do on its own, she said.
The Kailua Vision Team has requested construction money for the project, said Carol Ann Ellett, vision team member for the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle. Once the project is planted, the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle will maintain it.
The planting scheme will remain the same as the two previous projects, which start near Hamakua Drive with fan palms and naupaka bushes.
Some $55,000 has been earmarked for the project, but the 2003 city budget has not yet been approved.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
